Stella, Callie, & My #1 Tip for Shooting Kids

July 9, 2012

Meet Stella & Callie. They’re the daughters of Krista, a good friend of mine {http://LeahAndMark.com/Krista/}. They are gorgeous and were SO MUCH FUN to shoot. Stella just turned one, so we had a celebratory photoshoot.

I like working with kids. Especially with one-year-olds. I don’t know what it is, but I’m a big fan of this age. Take Stella for instance. She went from zero to warmed up in less than 15 seconds. And she was all smiles, even after we were finished. That’s pretty big, guys.

For those of you who don’t know, shooting kids comes with its own special set of rules and challenges. I fully believe in treating kids like adults, up to a point, and this remains true when photographing them. They understand what you’re saying. Even if you don’t think so, they do. They pick up SO EASILY on how you feel, how their parents feel, how their siblings feel. It’s amazing.

So one of the important things about shooting kids, whether you’re the photographer or the parents, is to stay positive. Let me repeat that: STAY POSITIVE. No matter what. Everything is okay, I promise.

I never ask kids to do things they wouldn’t normally. We dance, we sing, we clap, we roll around in the grass, we lay on our bellies, we tickle everyone around us. We get silly, and I love it. And it really is all about asking. Asking people to do things for you, never telling, and typically never doing it FOR them. True of all ages, really. But especially with little kids, when they’re trying so hard to find themselves and figure out the world. They want to do things themselves, and you can’t make them do anything.

I try my hardest to get the shots we’ve talked about. I always try tons of things and I never give up. There are so many ways to achieve similar results that there’s never any NEED to give up, really.

But the most important thing is to stay positive. Because not only does it keep everyone calm around you, it brings positive energy back to you.